Collapsible paperboard carriers for beverages contained in cans or bottles are commonplace in the industry. Examples of various such carriers are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,860,816 and 5,040,672. Such carriers are examples of one of the many types of commercially used packaging used in transportation and sale of canned and bottled beverages.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,558 describes an adaptation of a common beverage package that enables the same to perform a dual function wherein it also serves as an ice-containing cooler for the beverage containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,224 relates to a triangular carrier comprised of a top panel and converging end panels connected to triangular side panels. The carrier holds a plurality of rows of articles, each article extending between the side panels, with each row containing a greater number of articles then the next lower row. Openings at the corners of the carrier allow portions of adjacent articles to protrude.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,793 relates to a beverage carrier. One embodiment includes flexible water resistant container having a flexible container with a bottom and upstanding walls and a top opening. The container further includes a removable flooring for supporting beverages in the container, nesting in the container adjacent the bottom. A separator is provided for spacing apart beverages in the container from one another. A further embodiment provides like structure with the flooring having a coolant for cooling the beverages.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,389 relates to a reversible food and beverage carrier. A flat paper stock blank is disposed for assembly into a dual configuration food and beverage carrier, selectively folded into an upright box with upward extending side walls and end walls with handle panels extending from the box base around the side walls and meeting over the box as a handle or alternatively into an inverted box with downwardly extending side and end walls with handle panels extending from the base upward and away from the side walls. When the handle panels are folded toward and around the base side walls, the carrier is disposed to enclose foodstuffs placed in the carrier. When the handle panels are folded away from the base side walls, the carrier becomes a cup and cone carrier, the box being carried inverted. One or more holes are provided in the base section for receiving cups and cones. Hinged sections are provided at the hole perimeter to cover the hole, lightly connected until mildly urged downward to receive a cup thereby breaking the light connection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,672 relates to a basket style article carrier which includes a bottom wall, a pair of side walls foldably joined to opposite side edges of the bottom wall, end panels foldably joined to each end of the side wall, a riser panel foldably joined to the inner edge of the end panels foldably at one end of the carrier, a pair of medial panels foldably joined respectively to the inner edges of the end panels at the other end of the carrier, a pair of handle panels foldably joined respectively to the medial panels and secured in flat face contacting relation with the medial panels, cross partition structure foldably joined to each medial panel and a longitudinal reinforcing beam panel foldably joined along its top edge to the bottom edge of one medial panel and secured at one end to one of the medial panels and at the other end to one of the riser panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,553 relates to a cooling device for beverage containers. Cooling arrangements are provided for cooling beverage containers of a multi-container package. In one embodiment, a cooling device consists solely of a shaped, generally planar slab of ice including a surface for directly engaging and supporting the bottoms of the beverage containers of the package. This surface includes a plurality of recesses therein in which the bottoms of the beverage containers are received.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,444 relates to a portable cooler for carrying and cooling a 15 pack of beverages including a sealable cavity for pyramid stacked containment of 12 or 16 oz. canned beverages, a plastic insert for retaining the lower layers of cans in side-by-side relation and supporting stacking of subsequent layers of cans upward, and dual storage spaces for ice about said beverage cans. The exterior of the portable cooler further includes such features as a flap with a velcro fastener for closing said sealable cavity, multiple pockets for paraphernalia, and carrying strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,381 relates to a cooling assembly to maintain a bottle of wine or like beverage at a chilled temperature and in a predetermined orientation to facilitate serving. A housing includes a cooling compartment removably secured therein in surrounded relation to insulating material wherein the cooling compartment may be at least partially filled with water and separately subjected to a freezing environment for freezing the water and forming ice to be used as a coolant. A closure and a cover structure is mounted on the cooling compartment to provide access to a coolant chamber while at the same time serving to separate the interior of the cooling compartment from ambient temperature surrounding the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,069 relates to a one piece corrugated container. The container is formed of a unitary blank of foldable paperboard which has a bottom panel generally rectangular in outline which is integrally connected to opposed end walls and side walls to provide an upwardly facing opening. Corner gussets between each end wall and the adjacent side wall are folded inwardly alongside the adjacent side wall with the free extremities of the gussets adjacent each end wall carrying upstanding projections which overlap each other. An end flap on each end wall is folded inwardly along the inner surface of the adjacent gussets and has a slot along its fold line for receiving the adjacent upstanding projections.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,276 relates to a paperboard blank storable in a flat condition ready for folding into a dual configuration food and beverage carrier, selectively folded into an upright box with upward extending handle panels and end walls with the handle panels extending from a box base around side walls and meeting over the box as a handle or alternatively into an inverted box with downwardly extending side and end walls with handle panels extending from the base upward and away from the side walls. When the handle panels are folded towards and around the base side walls, the carrier is disposed to enclose food stuffs placed in the carrier and simultaneously capable of carrying one or two cups placed through appropriately sized openings in the base.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,516 relates to a portable beverage carrier adapted for mounting on a horizontal top frame tube of a bicycle which includes a pair of insulated receptacles, each dimensioned to receive one or a plurality of standard beverage containers. The insulated receptacles each include a zipper fastened cover. The covers and receptacles are each formed from a fabric material lined with a gel refrigerant encapsulated within a water proof liner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,399 relates to an apparatus for use particularly within an automotive environment, including a central support container for securement of a plurality of chambers therewithin, wherein each chamber provides reception of a predetermined quantity of a refrigerant gel or fluid. The support container includes a U shaped support base, including a plurality of upstanding extending arcuate legs for surmounting a transmission tunnel housing of an associated automobile. In one embodiment, the support container includes an elongate cavity to complementarily receive a plurality of insert holder chambers, wherein each chamber includes an insert cavity, each cavity containing a deformable refrigerant chamber. Each refrigerant chamber includes a through extending cylindrical bore to receive a beverage container therewithin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,571 relates to a portable beverage carrier for transporting beverages while keeping them at a constant temperature for long periods of time. The device includes a case and a cooler insert member. The case functions as a suitcase and includes a base, a top hingedly secured to the base, and a latching means. The cooler insert member is disposed within a hollow interior of the case base and includes a plurality of beverage container receiving cavities. The cooler insert member is collapsible for convenient storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,303 relates to a cold can or bottle cooler dispenser for keeping cold and compactly transporting both homemade liquid refreshment and canned or bottled refreshments in separate compartments. A rotatable cowling having an opening which surrounds the mid section of the cooler allows selection of the desired canned or bottled refreshment. Compartments are also provided for reusable substitute ice packs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,526 relates to a disposable and recyclable cooler made of paper coated with a polymer. Some embodiments transform from a first configuration that snugly retains a set of beverage containers to a second, expanded configuration that retains ice proximate the beverage containers.